May 7, 2017, 11:27 am
Last edit by: Adam Smith
This thread was originally started regarding the re-configuration and re-designation of Air Canada's legacy CRAs to CR9s. That project was completed in early 2018.
AC currently has five CR9s that were previously owned by SkyWest and in service with Delta. These are (fin/registration):
These aircraft are still configured with the Delta interiors, have no IFE, and may or may not have working WiFi. AC has not published any details regarding the re-configuration of these aircraft to match the existing CR9 fleet.
AC currently has five CR9s that were previously owned by SkyWest and in service with Delta. These are (fin/registration):
- 780 / C-FIJZ
- 781 / C-FJZN
- 782 / C-FOJZ
- 783 / C-FRJA
- 784 / C-GJAN
These aircraft are still configured with the Delta interiors, have no IFE, and may or may not have working WiFi. AC has not published any details regarding the re-configuration of these aircraft to match the existing CR9 fleet.
CRA/CR9 re-config and re-designation - details and progress
Jan 15, 2018, 2:48 pm
#106
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Jan 15, 2018, 10:28 pm
#108
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Theoretically it should now be a CR9, but I'm not sure that's the case. Transport Canada still says it's a CRA and I didn't actually go back and count all the seats in Y - AC could have done most of the mods, including the 12J and Y reconfig, as long as they didn't put in more than 75 seats total.
I was on C-FCJZ (FIN 703) last night. Wifi was available but I didn't use it.
What I found odd was this:
The flight had been advertised as a CRJ900, meaning 12 seats in J. I was first on the upgrade list and up until the flight closed, the AC app showed 10 out of 12 J seats booked. As soon as the flight closed, I asked the GA if I had a choice of seats when she processes the upgrades but she just gave me a blank stare and said that J is full. So I go back to the AC app and lo and behold, it now shows 10 out of 10 J seats booked.
I figured that maybe the aircraft was swapped for a CRA705, but when I boarded it was clear that it was a CRJ900 with 12 seats. I took my seat in Y and waited to see if there were 12 J pax, but only 10 arrived. So I asked to speak to the GA and she agreed with me that so mething funny was going on. She showed me her printout and it showed that J was 10/10. She said, "Just take one of the empty seats because I know you're on the upgrade list." So I did...but the plane left with 1 empty seat in J. I feel bad for #2 on the upgrade list.
What I found odd was this:
The flight had been advertised as a CRJ900, meaning 12 seats in J. I was first on the upgrade list and up until the flight closed, the AC app showed 10 out of 12 J seats booked. As soon as the flight closed, I asked the GA if I had a choice of seats when she processes the upgrades but she just gave me a blank stare and said that J is full. So I go back to the AC app and lo and behold, it now shows 10 out of 10 J seats booked.
I figured that maybe the aircraft was swapped for a CRA705, but when I boarded it was clear that it was a CRJ900 with 12 seats. I took my seat in Y and waited to see if there were 12 J pax, but only 10 arrived. So I asked to speak to the GA and she agreed with me that so mething funny was going on. She showed me her printout and it showed that J was 10/10. She said, "Just take one of the empty seats because I know you're on the upgrade list." So I did...but the plane left with 1 empty seat in J. I feel bad for #2 on the upgrade list.AC.com now displays everything as CR9. However, when you pull up the seat map, it says "CRA" in the corner and shows the CRA seat map (10J, 75 seats overall). And when pulling up seat maps on EF, it finds CRA seatmaps as well.
AC's fleet page only shows CR9, no CRA.
The flight I took last week did show the CR9 seat map on ac.com and on EF, but I only got booked on it ~12 hours before departure as it was an IRROPs re-booking (was supposed to fly AA CLT-DFW-YYC but misconnected, so re-booked on UA-AC CLT-IAH-YYC). It went out with 2 J empty, but there was no one on the upgrade list and it did actually show Business as "Available".
My assumption is that until they finish converting all of the CRAs, they will treat everything as a CRA until they actually confirm the aircraft that will actually operate the flight, sometime within 48 hours of departure. Perhaps for your flight, they either hadn't updated the systems to reflect the fact that FCJZ is now CR9-configured or someone forgot to update the aircraft type.
I'm sure we'll have plenty of little issues with this until they finish the conversions. Where it will be worst is when they schedule something as CR9, fill up 12J and then downgrade to CRA.
Jan 15, 2018, 10:36 pm
#109
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But it's much better to gate-upgrade 2 people (or leave the seats empty) than it is to downgrade 2 people.
Jan 16, 2018, 9:55 am
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Jan 17, 2018, 8:49 am
#112
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I'm on FCJZ right now. That fin has been assigned since yesterday afternoon, and as we know from above, it has been reconfigured.
However, it showed up as the old CRA layout (10J, 12A alone, etc) last night on ac.com and the upgrade list showed capacity in J as 10.
Sometime this morning, the upgrade list changed to showing J capacity as 12. EF has never picked up on the change in seat map though, and I did manually refresh it.
"Within 48 hours" doesn't mean 48 hours out, it means no earlier than 48 hours. I would even say it's fairly common for the fin to change multiple times within the last 12 hours. But sometimes it will stay the same from when it first shows up (usually no earlier than T-48).
Definitely, but do you have faith that AC will actually do the right thing?
However, it showed up as the old CRA layout (10J, 12A alone, etc) last night on ac.com and the upgrade list showed capacity in J as 10.
Sometime this morning, the upgrade list changed to showing J capacity as 12. EF has never picked up on the change in seat map though, and I did manually refresh it.
But it's much better to gate-upgrade 2 people (or leave the seats empty) than it is to downgrade 2 people.
Jan 17, 2018, 10:14 am
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Jan 17, 2018, 2:26 pm
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Despite the CRA layouts showing up on the seating map, I've noticed a trend of 28A and B being blocked out weeks/months in advance for the routes I've checked. Perhaps that is an indicator that the tentative plan is to use a CR9 on those particular flights due to the fact there is no row 28 on the CR9...
Jan 17, 2018, 2:43 pm
#115
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Despite the CRA layouts showing up on the seating map, I've noticed a trend of 28A and B being blocked out weeks/months in advance for the routes I've checked. Perhaps that is an indicator that the tentative plan is to use a CR9 on those particular flights due to the fact there is no row 28 on the CR9...
Jan 24, 2018, 10:03 pm
#116
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So I got an EF alert today for some future CRA flights. The seatmap has now changed and it's showing up as "CR9". It has 12J and is otherwise the same as AC's CR9 seatmap on the website, except 28C is missing, which means there are only 75 seats total...
Last edited by Adam Smith; Jan 25, 2018 at 1:16 pm Reason: Corrected typo
Jan 25, 2018, 5:58 am
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Last year, I was to fly a CRJ, changed to CRA and a DH4 changed to CRA. Both times, I was placed in J. From my 2 data points, it appears that they do.
Jan 25, 2018, 1:39 pm
#118
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I'm sitting on GJZS right now, one of the new CR9s. Like the only other one I've been on, it has the crappy old brown upholstery. I still can't figure out why they put that nice new blue interior in some of the old planes while putting recycled old ones in new planes.
I wonder whether there's WiFi on this plane...
Did you mean to quote my post? If so, I'm not sure I follow.
I wonder whether there's WiFi on this plane...
Did you mean to quote my post? If so, I'm not sure I follow.
Last edited by Adam Smith; Jan 31, 2018 at 7:46 am Reason: Corrected typo
Jan 25, 2018, 4:40 pm
#119
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2 days out - just switched from CRA to CRJ900. Meaning my bulkhead 2F business seat is no longer bulkhead. Can't seem to pull the seatmap up online anymore... actually can't even see the flight anymore on the booking page (maybe sold out? unlikely?).
That being said how does the Bulkhead row 1 seem on the new CR9? Worse than the 2DF bulkhead on the CRA?
That being said how does the Bulkhead row 1 seem on the new CR9? Worse than the 2DF bulkhead on the CRA?
Jan 25, 2018, 5:27 pm
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